Emily Guerin

Episode 2 of LAist Studios podcast Imperfect Paradise: Nury & the Secret Tapes explores the disgraced former L.A. city council president's background and political career, and delves into the tensions roiling the council in the months leading up to the secretly-recorded meeting that forced Martinez to resign.

The four-part podcast includes an exclusive interview with former L.A. City Council president Nury Martinez, who resigned in disgrace after she was heard making racist and derogatory remarks.

Deep in the Mojave Desert, there is a little town with a big name and a bizarre history: California City. For decades, real estate developers have sold a dream here: if you buy land now, you’ll be rich one day. Thousands of people bought this dream. Many were young couples and hard-working immigrants looking to build a better future. But much of the land they bought is nearly worthless. In this new podcast from LAist Studios, host Emily Guerin tells a story of money, power and deception.

Hikers, please don't get trapped by a wildfire. But if you do, here are some tips to help you survive.

In a small town in the Mojave Desert, salespeople were making tens of millions of dollars hawking empty desert land to unsuspecting buyers by convincing them the area would boom one day -- and if they got in now, they could get rich.

You have questions and we have years of experience answering them.

California's building codes aren't keeping up with the severity of our wildfires.

California's wildfire building codes weren't designed for the modern megafire era.

It's the third-driest year since record-keeping began in 1877.

If you were hoping Hurricane Rosa would drench Southern California, we're sorry to disappoint you: the L.A. area is only going to get clouds and a sprinkle of rain. Still, enjoy the change of pace: hurricanes are exceedingly are rare here, because the atmosphere in Southern California is very stable, making it hard for storms to form, and the water is too cold.